The long-overdue moment of reckoning for Democrats is fast approaching as African-Americans are poised to throw increased support behind President Donald Trump because he delivered on his campaign promises.
For decades, Democrats have held out a carrot for black voters as they repeatedly claimed they were fighting for equality, and the GOP was a bunch of racists. But in the run-up to the 2016 election, President Trump posed a simple question that continues to resonate with African-Americans. He asked, “What have you got to lose?”
During the eight years of the Obama administration, African-Americans suffered disproportional unemployment, poverty, and decreased opportunities for their families. Although less than 10 percent may have voted for Trump, with a whopping 88 percent backing Hillary, the president has more than answered that question in his first three years. He rolled out stunning statistics in the recent State of the Union address that sent chills through the Democratic Party.
“Since my election, we have created 7 million new jobs — 5 million more than Government experts projected during the previous administration. The unemployment rate is the lowest in over half a century,” Trump said. “Incredibly, the average unemployment rate under my Administration is lower than any administration in the history of our country. If we had not reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration, the world would not now be witness to America’s great economic success. The unemployment rates for African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Asian-Americans have reached the lowest levels in history. African-American youth unemployment has reached an all-time low. African-American poverty has declined to the lowest rate ever recorded.”
Liberal-leaning media outlets have been trying to twist and mangle these facts in an effort to dispute the reality that President Trump has delivered on his promise to lift up all Americans regardless of color. That is a promise no Democrat can claim to have kept. So-called minorities are no longer being treated differently in the economic boom President Trump and the GOP have created with America First policies. The president’s statement of equal opportunity facts was a shot that even African-American political experts believe could turn more blue states red come November.
“That was a warning to us. That was a warning shot across the bow to us Democrats that he’s going after enough black votes to cause us problems. It’s not just suburban votes, he’s going after black votes,” former Obama advisor and CNN commentator Van Jones said. after Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address. “What he was saying to African-Americans can be effective. You may not like it, but he mentioned HBCUs, black colleges have been struggling for a long time, a bunch of them have gone under, he threw a lifeline to them in real life in his budget. He talked about that. He talked about criminal justice reform. He talked about opportunity zones.”
Democrats have been trying desperately to keep their voter base intact as this group of left-behind Americans are growing keenly aware that America First is for everyone. That stands in stark contrast to eight years of Obama pandering to the liberal elite and shipping working-class jobs overseas. Not only have jobs returned under Trump, but wages are quickly rising as companies now compete for workers. This is the type of meat-and-potatoes benefits Democrats promised but never bothered to follow through on. They always assumed race-baiting would be enough to keep African-Americans voting Democrat.
“I think what you’re going to see him do, you may not like my rhetoric, but look at my results and my record to black people. If he narrowly casts that, it’s going to be effective. Which means, as we move through this primary process, we’ve got to pay a lot more attention both to what’s going on with the Latino vote,” Jones added. “It is going to be a split off, especially for black male voters. We’ve got to be clinical about this stuff. We get so emotional about it. That was a warning to us. That was a warning shot across the bow to us Democrats that he’s going after enough black votes to cause us problems. It’s not just suburban votes. He’s going after black votes.”
